The present invention relates to aircraft safety and particularly to a system for protecting operating personnel situated in the cockpit of passenger aircraft from attack by hijackers situated in the passenger section of the aircraft. The invention also relates to a system for protecting operating personnel of railway locomotives and marine vessels.
Aircraft cockpits are provided with a single lightweight door separating the flight deck crew from the passenger cabin with the door being usually closed and sometimes locked during flight of the aircraft. Unlocking and opening of the door during flight is normally restricted to the cabin crew by communication with the flight deck either by the aircraft""s telephone system or by simply knocking on the door and entering using a key kept by the cabin crew. Passengers are normally able to approach the cockpit door in the course of using the forward head of the aircraft or by approaching the forward galley both of which facilities are situated adjacent to the cockpit door.
In the present order of things, security of an aircraft flight deck and flight deck crew relies heavily on the effectiveness of pre-boarding passenger screening to ensure that weapons fabricated of metal are not boarded, and on the assumptions that passengers will obey flight crew instructions restricting access to the area adjacent the cockpit door during flight and will not interfere with the flight crew in any way regarding operation of the aircraft. Needless to say, these measures and restrictions have proven to be inadequate for security of flight deck and crew.
The invention also provides a system for securing a railway locomotive cab and a bridge of a marine vessel against unwanted or unauthorized intrusion.
The present invention provides a system for securing an aircraft cockpit against unwanted or unauthorized intrusion from the passenger cabin of the aircraft.
In accordance with the present invention, a passenger aircraft interior is arranged by installing double doors at the entrance to the cockpit and rearranging the adjacent galley and restroom. The galley and restroom according to a preferred embodiment of the invention are situated on opposite sides of an aircraft cabin creating a vestibule or passageway between them. The vestibule is fitted with parallel inner and outer sliding doors of robust bulletproof construction with special locking devices so as to provide guarded access to the cockpit from the passenger cabin. The door locks are opened and closed with a special key, or by a biometric recognition system such as retina, facial, fingerprint, hand geometry and voice recognition of a member of the crew or other authorized personnel. The door locks are also interactive such that during aircraft operation, the inner and outer doors are each unlocked, opened, closed and relocked sequentially for cockpit entry and exit. The vestibule is equipped with visual means such as a video camera or double glazed door panel or window permitting the cockpit crew to see who is trying to gain access to the cockpit. The bulkhead separating the forward head or restroom and galley from the cockpit is bulletproof with light weight, thick Plexiglas, Kevlar or equivalent material.
One of the preferred requirements of the invention is to have the cockpit crew enter the cockpit and secure the cockpit vestibule doors prior to passengers boarding the aircraft. In this way the flight deck crew need not have any contact with passengers when the crew has secured the cockpit.
In accordance with a preferred aspect of the invention, the cockpit crew has access to the forward head through a cockpit-side door available only to the cockpit crew.
Any food or refreshment for the cockpit crew can be passed into the vestibule which is then locked on the passenger side and opened on the cockpit side.
Modified embodiments of the invention for railway and for marine use are also disclosed.
Specific systems are included in the following description for purposes of clarity, but various details can be changed within the scope of the present invention.
An object of the invention is to provide an aircraft security system for the protection of flight deck crew and to ensure authorized operation of an aircraft.
Another object of the invention is to provide an aircraft cabin configuration restricting access to the cockpit to authorized personnel.
Another object of the invention is to provide an railway locomotive cab configuration restricting access to the cab to authorized personnel.
Another object of the invention is to provide a marine vessel bridge configuration restricting access to the bridge to authorized personnel.
Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent with an understanding of the following detailed description or upon employment of the invention in practice.